"Traditional Pacific fashion, that's still us, you know and we're proud of that."

"At the same time, there's a group of exciting new Pacific designers coming through, you know, this designer has and they have inspirations not only connected to our culture, traditions and beliefs, but there's also the western influence," she said.

"This is why we created Pacific Fusion because it has both Pacific and the western influences combined as one."

Nora Swann was born and raised in Otara and said she was delighted to have PFFS in her own backyard.

"I've been here for the past six to nine months just working with different suppliers and at the same time talking to the locals about it because they're starting to see these people come on site and getting quotes," she said.

"The locals are interested and they're excited. That excitement is so uplifting and I see this event gives them hope and that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling."